#51B5EC Color

#51B5EC is rgb(81, 181, 236) in RGB, hsl(201, 80%, 62%) in HSL, and about cmyk(66%, 23%, 0%, 7%) in CMYK. It has no registered color name of its own — the closest is Picton Blue (#45B1E8), below the threshold most people can see at ΔE 2.04. Black text is the more readable choice on this background.

#51B5EC

HEX#51B5EC

RGBrgb(81, 181, 236)

HSLhsl(201, 80%, 62%)

HSVhsv(201, 66%, 93%)

CMYKcmyk(66%, 23%, 0%, 7%)

OKLCHoklch(73.6% 0.122 235.9)

LABlab(69.50% -17.44 -36.83)

LCHlch(69.50% 40.74 244.66)

What #51B5EC Is Called

Most hex codes have no name: there are 16.7 million of them and a few thousand registered names. These are the named colors nearest to #51B5EC, ordered by CIE76 distance in CIELAB. Anything under about ΔE 2 is a difference most people cannot see.

Picton Blue#45B1E8ΔE 2.04 Twitter Blue#26A7DEΔE 6.47 Maya Blue#73C2FBΔE 6.98 Blue Jeans#5DADECΔE 7.09 Very Light Azure#74BBFBΔE 8.99 Vivid Cerulean#00AAEEΔE 9.55

Browse the full index of named colors A-Z or every blue in the library.

#51B5EC Channel Values

How #51B5EC breaks down in each color model. Hue is measured in degrees around the color wheel; saturation, lightness, and the CMYK inks are percentages.

Model	Channels	Notes
RGB	R 81 · G 181 · B 236	8-bit channels as sent to the display
HSL	H 201° · S 80% · L 62%	Easiest model for building lighter and darker variants
HSV	H 201° · S 66% · V 93%	Matches the picker in most design tools
CMYK	C 66% · M 23% · Y 0% · K 7%	Approximate ink mix; confirm with an ICC profile before printing
Luminance	2.29:1 vs white · 9.17:1 vs black	WCAG 2.2 relative-luminance contrast ratios

Text Contrast & Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios for text on a #51B5EC background. AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text; AAA requires 7:1. Contrast is one check, not a full accessibility review.

Fails AAWhite text2.29:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

TextBlack text9.17:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

Need a specific ratio against another background? Open #51B5EC in the contrast checker.

Colors That Go With #51B5EC

Pairings derived from color-wheel relationships. The complementary color sits opposite #51B5EC; analogous colors sit beside it; triadic and split-complementary sets spread evenly around the wheel. Select any swatch for its own breakdown.

Base

Complementary

Analogous

Analogous

Triadic

Triadic

Split comp.

Split comp.

Tints & Shades of #51B5EC

Lighter tints and darker shades built by moving the lightness channel while holding hue and saturation, which is what you want for hover states, backgrounds, and text variants.

Tints

Shades

Want a full 50-950 ramp with semantic roles? Generate design tokens from #51B5EC.

How #51B5EC Looks with Color Vision Deficiency

Simulated with the Viénot, Brettel & Mollon LMS projection model. Anomalous types are rendered as partial versions of the matching dichromacy, which is an approximation rather than a per-person clinical model.

Typical#51B5EC

Protanopia#A9A9EC

Protanomaly#8EAEEC

Deuteranopia#9D9DED

Deuteranomaly#85A7ED

Tritanopia#34BDBD

Tritanomaly#41BAD2

Achromatopsia#ABABAB

Test a full palette in the color blindness simulator.

Using #51B5EC in Code

Copy-ready declarations for the places this color usually ends up.

CSS custom property--color-51b5ec: #51B5EC;

CSS backgroundbackground-color: #51B5EC;

Tailwind configcolors: { 'color-51b5ec': '#51B5EC' }

SwiftUIColor(red: 0.318, green: 0.710, blue: 0.925)

Android XML<color name="color_51b5ec">#51B5EC</color>

SVG fillfill="#51B5EC"

More Blue Colors

#51B5EC sits in the blue family. These are its neighbours across that family's full range, each with its own breakdown.

000024 fafaff 00002e f9fafb 000033 f8fafc 000038 f8f8ff 000042 f5faff 000047 f5f5ff 002147 007dfa 0f52ba 1c39bb 2a3439 372aac 4e3cc3 64609a 7abdff 979aaa b8dbff d6d6ff

#51B5EC Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #51B5EC?

#51B5EC is a light blue — rgb(81, 181, 236) in RGB and hsl(201, 80%, 62%) in HSL. It carries no registered color name of its own; the closest named color is Picton Blue (#45B1E8), which is below the threshold most people can see at a CIE76 distance of 2.04.

What is the RGB value of #51B5EC?

#51B5EC is rgb(81, 181, 236) — red 81, green 181, and blue 236 on the 0-255 scale.

What is the CMYK value of #51B5EC?

#51B5EC converts to approximately cmyk(66%, 23%, 0%, 7%). CMYK output is a mathematical approximation for planning; confirm production print colors with your printer and ICC profile.

Should text on #51B5EC be black or white?

Black text is the more readable choice. #51B5EC scores 2.29:1 against white and 9.17:1 against black, and WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal body text.

Can I write #51B5EC as a CSS color keyword?

No. #51B5EC is not one of the CSS color keywords, so it has to be written as a hex, rgb() or hsl() value. The closest keyword is deepskyblue (#00BFFF) at a CIE76 distance of 9.73, which is clearly related but distinguishable side by side.

Open #51B5EC in a Tool

Hex to RGB Hex to HSL Hex to CMYK Hex to OKLCH Hex to Pantone Build a palette Make a gradient

Keep exploring: every blue in the color library, the guide to shades of blue, or the full color library.